New toys - Electronic Thermometers

[dakar]

#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Found these at WallyWorld for $6 or $7 each and figured I've give'm a shot. The 'probe' claims to be water resistant to 10' (I doped up the connector where the wires enter the probe with a dab of silicone just for good measure anyhows).#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#IMG alt="image file name: 2k88fed8aabb.jpg" src="http://www.captivereefing.com/richedit/upload/2k88fed8aabb.jpg" border=0#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Tested them against a few known accurrate thermometers and they were dead on. So I putone on the 180 and the other on my 10g nano.... As you can see the air temp in my office is a little chilly, but the tank is fine.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#IMG alt="image file name: 2kea9ef27c93.jpg" src="http://www.captivereefing.com/richedit/upload/2kea9ef27c93.jpg" border=0#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Next step should be obvious, as I really don't care what the air temp is, needtohack ononeto see if I can extend the thermistor for the 'inside' temp to measure temps at the top and bottom of the tank, or the difference between the sump/fuge and tank or whatever.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#

[graphixx]

Dave, that is a good idea, as allways. let me know how that goes. that would interesting to see if there is a diff

[dakar]

I know there is a difference in the big tank with the halides on, a few degrees warmer near the surface, it can actually be felt.... be cool to see the difference with some degree of accuracy .1 degree resolution is pretty good.

[Tom McKenna]

Corallife also makes one which is guaranteed saltwater safe I use them on all my tanks dead on accurate and only 7.99 heheh

[perpetual98]

Uber Geek! :)

[dakar]

Corallife also makes one which is guaranteed saltwater safe I use them on all my tanks dead on accurate and only 7.99 heheh

I know.... but they are only a single temp deal... These caught my eye in passing and immediately screamed to be hacked on which makes them far more fun than any plug and pray deal, that was my whole point.... anything left in it's original 'stock' form just isn't any fun.

[graphixx]

Dakar I have a new nick name for you............ THE TINKER GNOME!! You are allways trying to get into mischief by "MODIFYING" a gadget. I love it

[Tom McKenna]

tinker gnome hehe that would be cool to get bottom and top temps hehe

[dakar]

Tinker Gnome.....huh?

I'll have to think about that one for a spell... pretty funny, also fitting, I can't think of anything that I own that hasn't had a screwdriver or some other tools taken to it.

[dakar]

#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Well I went and took the critter apart.... Simple hack.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#IMG alt="image file name: 2k763b275538.jpg" src="http://www.captivereefing.com/richedit/upload/2k763b275538.jpg" border=0#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Isolate the lead for the extrenal probe and the thermistor that measures the 'inside' temps#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#IMG alt="image file name: 2k9d747009f0.jpg" src="http://www.captivereefing.com/richedit/upload/2k9d747009f0.jpg" border=0#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Desoldered the thermistor and set it aside, shortened the lead to the probe to insert between the board and the termistor.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#IMG alt="image file name: 2kc3f35d97b0.jpg" src="http://www.captivereefing.com/richedit/upload/2kc3f35d97b0.jpg" border=0#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Soldered the thermistor to the ends of the wire, doped the leads up with silicone, let it cure. (the blue coating is waterproof and shouldn't be completely covered with silicone).#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#IMG alt="image file name: 2k96790b9283.jpg" src="http://www.captivereefing.com/richedit/upload/2k96790b9283.jpg" border=0#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Dropped one in the display and the other in the sump for now next to the heater for now to see a difference in readings... #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Presto, now she's a dual water tempmeter :)#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#IMG alt="image file name: 2k58f0711a90.jpg" src="http://www.captivereefing.com/richedit/upload/2k58f0711a90.jpg" border=0#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Courtesty of the Tinker Gnome :p#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#

[graphixx]

DAVE, you are the man, that is pretty cool. not much of a diff in temp.

[dakar]

Nope actually it does a sampling rate of about once every 10 seconds or so... have had the halide on over the nano now for a few hours without the glass, and both the tank and the refuge are both dead on at 79.2F.

I'm happy with it.... Might have to pick up a couple more just for funning with :)

Either tonight or tommorrow morning I'll hack on the other unit that's on the 180g. That's the tank I really want to see the temp diff's on at the top and bottom of the water column.

[segraves1]

#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #ed_op#IMG onmouseover="this.style.backgroundColor='#C6D3EF';this.style.bo rder='1px solid #3169C6'; " style="BORDER-RIGHT: #3169c6 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #3169c6 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #3169c6 1px solid; CURSOR: pointer; BORDER-BOTTOM: #3169c6 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #c6d3ef" onclick="InsertImage('/richedit/smileys/7.gif');" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor=''; this.style.border=''" src="http://www.captivereefing.com/richedit/smileys/7.gif" align=absMiddle#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#

[perpetual98]

After seeing your thread Dave I did the exact same thing with the exact same thermometer from Walmart. Although it was $8.88 at the one by me. Anyway, I did what you did except I used some shrink wrap over the area that I siliconed. Now just the sensor and a little extra silicone are sticking out of the shrink wrap. It worked pretty slick too. I gooped it up, then heated up the shrink wrap which compressed the silocone ot the ends, so then I just made sure the the silicone was covering both ends of the shrink wrap good, and I also tried to smear some of the extra onto the shrink wrap itself. Now the top readout is for one of my 120G tanks, and the bottom readout is for the other 120. It was kinda cool to see that both tanks were exactly the same temperature. We'll see how much difference there is after the lights are on for their duration. One tank has a large canopy with a 4x54W setup and an IceCap 660, the other tank has a smaller canopy with 6x54W T5 and two 70W halides. I'm thinking that the tank with more lights on it will be a few degrees warmer come lights out.

[flame]

Very Nice Job Dakar. I will borrow this one

[dakar]

Glad to see some folks are going to get some use out of this little hack....

[Tom McKenna]

BUILD ME ONE I WILL PAY hehehe

[dakar]

BUILD ME ONE I WILL PAY hehehe

Are you kidding? 2 minutes with a soldering iron is all that's involved.

[Tom McKenna]

<------ Electronic idiot hehe